James Rosone, Miranda Watson
Battlefield Ukraine
Disclaimer
This is a fictional story. All characters in this book are imagined, and any opinions that they express are simply that, fictional thoughts of literary characters. Although policies mentioned in the book may be similar to reality, they are by no means a factual representation of the news. Please enjoy this work as it is, a story to escape the part of life that can sometimes weigh us down in mundaneness or busyness.
Forward
In writing this fictional series, we have strived to make it as realistic as possible. While it is not our intention or goal to advocate for one political ideology or chastise another, we would be remiss if we tried to omit any political references or acknowledgement of reality. Paraphrasing the Prussian general, Carl von Clausewitz, war is just an extension of a political disagreement. In truth, all wars are started over a very few common themes: resources (land, minerals, oil, rare earth elements), money (corporate interests, defense industry, greed), miscommunication (political disagreements, misunderstandings), and finally, fear (religion, etc.).
The 2016 US Presidential Election and the British Brexit vote showed the world how powerful social media can be in influencing an election (or war), and how incredibly detailed and targeted voting preferences could be. The ability of tech firms to leverage social media platforms to identify and specifically target individuals with tailor-made articles and posts to influence their decision or sway the public was nothing short of incredible.
As someone who has previously worked in human intelligence, it is my opinion that it truly would not have mattered who won the 2016 election; either way, special interest groups and foreign powers would have leveraged social media to taint the results and cause as much civil and political chaos as possible. While the US slowly becomes consumed by allegations and divisions, world powers are using that distraction to assert their own power and influence.
We chose to write this series based on what we believe are potential flashpoints that may ignite during the next eight years. This is not directly as a consequence of President Trump’s election or Brexit, rather, these are flashpoints have been years in the making and may come to fruition in the near future. The conflict with Ukraine has been brewing since the fall of 2013 — the question is, can the Russians and US continue to pit their proxies against each other, or will it at some point spill over into a direct confrontation? We hope you enjoy this potential “what-if” scenario. If you do, we hope you will consider reviewing it on Amazon.
— James Rosone
The Shot Heard Round the World
Petro Kolomoisky was tired after working his eight-hour shift at the steel mill. His father and grandfather had been steel workers, and it had only seemed natural to follow in their footsteps, but it had become a difficult path. This was one of the first months that business had been good enough for the mill to run a full forty-hour work week. As he walked towards Freedom Square where tonight’s political rally was taking place, he suddenly felt incredibly hungry. As Petro sniffed the air, he could smell the charbroiling of some chicken kebabs from one of the vendor trucks parked nearby. His stomach began to grumble and he knew he would need to stop and grab something to eat.
“Hey, there you are Petro. I had just about given up on you,” said Andriy as he walked over to his childhood friend. The two of them had known each other since they were little children playing in the same sandbox nearby their homes.
Turning around, Petro smiled broadly as he saw his friend. “We had a full shift today at the mill. I just got off work,” he replied. He waved his friend over to where he was waiting in line to get some dinner from the food truck.
“The crowds have really come out tonight. Look at all these people” Andriy said as he waved his hand to motion towards the developing assembly.
“Yeah, I’m surprised so many people have showed up after everything that went on last night,” Petro replied as he paid for his kebab and started to walk towards the edge of the square. He took a deep breath of the steam that was drifting from the meat, letting the spice fill his nostrils before he took a giant bite. The juices ran down the side of his mouth as he dabbed at it with a napkin.
“Those police officers got what they deserved,” his friend retorted angrily. Andriy had gotten hit by one of the riot police truncheons two days ago, losing a tooth in the process. He was still fuming about it.
Petro sighed before responding, “Andriy, I am really sorry about your tooth. It was wrong of the riot police to have attacked us like that. We have been peacefully protesting here for nearly a week. But no one deserves to lose their life over this, even the police,” he said in response as he looked across the growing throng of people.
People had been protesting in Kharkiv a lot this summer because of the breakdown in diplomatic talks in Kiev. Folks were angry that no real progress was being made. The political leaders in the capitol were pushing for policies that would integrate Ukraine into the EU, while more than half of the country still wanted to join the Russian trade union with several of the other former soviet states.
Kicking a small stone as they walked towards the large mass of people, Andriy grumbled, “I know. I feel bad for those officers’ families. I do. But they had no right to just come in like they did and ambush us. Something must change my friend. This constant bickering in Kiev is tearing our country apart.”
As the protesters continued to pour into Freedom Square, Colonel Petr Croski was ready. The central government in Kiev had ordered his Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) to Kharkiv to put down this protest movement before it grew any larger or spread any further. After several police officers were killed the other day, it was determined that an ATU had to be sent in to deal with this mess. President Groysman was not going to allow the city of Kharkiv and the surrounding region to turn into civil war like the rest of Eastern Ukraine had. The time for negotiating was over; now it was time to restore order and bring the country back together, even if that meant through the use of force.
Major Dimitri Dremov walked up to his commander, who was standing near the armored vehicle that was acting as their command vehicle. “Sir, I have a company of soldiers at the east end of the city, ready to move in and close off the eastern exit of Freedom Square. I also have another company that is opposite the zoo. They are prepared to move in when you give the order,” he said with a smile on his face.
They had been planning this operation for nearly a day. Their goal was to apprehend as many of the protesters as they could and charge them with crimes against the state. Then, they would identify the ring leaders and charge them with treason and fomenting insurrection against the government.
Pleased with the news, Colonel Croski handed his deputy his flask to join him in a little sip before the operation began. “The snipers are in place, right?” He wanted to be prepared in case things turned violent.
Major Dremov nodded as he took a swig of vodka and handed the flask back, “Yes. I have the three sniper positions set up. I’ve personally seen their positions and they have a good over-watch of where our troops will be.”
“Excellent. Then all we need to do now is sit back and wait for the main speakers at the rally to show up and let the police begin to box them in. Once they herd the crowd into the target area, then order the men in,” ordered Colonel Croski.